Considerations for Delay and Sum Beamformer on a Multi-Core Processor
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3849/aimt.01994Keywords:
sonar beamformer, multicore processing, sonar signal processingAbstract
This paper presents a real-time, scalable beamformer solution utilizing Intel multicore processors for a Passive Surveillance Sonar (PSS) system. With larger arrays being developed to address the complexities of the ocean environment, the demand to handle high-bandwidth data in the beamformer has become essential. The time-domain delay-and-sum beamformer is analyzed for a cylindrical array, and the best configuration is selected for a simplified realization. The beamformer is demanding in terms of both computation and memory. Considerations for developing an optimized implementation on a multicore machine are discussed, along with the realization of a scalable solution. The beamformer is evaluated for performance with arrays of varying complexities and successfully meets real-time requirements. Finally, a solution for a PSS with a panoramic 450-beam configuration, which has evolved based on this concept, demonstrates the capabilities of the proposed approach.
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